


love me back

by ButterflyMaven



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Disney Movies, Disney References, Dorks in Love, Eating KitKat, Feminization, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Mentions of PTSD, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Pre-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Shy Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-17 01:37:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16506800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButterflyMaven/pseuds/ButterflyMaven
Summary: Steve chuckles, a small rumble in his tone. He breaks the KitKat bar of four in half, splitting it to share. The second he hands Tony his share, he bites across his own barshorizontally.All hell broke lose.





	love me back

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like it @thesecretsoftheuniverse! You asked if I could continue with pick me up. Whipped this up in an hour because I'm having a partial meltdown and I write to calm down, so forgive me if it's terrible!
> 
>  
> 
> Also, RIP Stan Lee. Thank you for creating Steve and Tony that we all love x

 

* * *

 

 

Reading fan-mail together was a weekly affair for a pair of superheroes.

On the off chance that there was no world-ending alien invasion, a mission that would take them off the grid for weeks, or an Avengers PR event that required hours of schmoozing and socialising, Steve would religiously go to the mail room on Tuesday afternoons and go through the hundreds of fan-mail delivered to the team every week, ranging from soft toys to sketches, even undergarments and expensive art pieces.

Because he was a sap who preferred handmade, old fashion snail mail, Steve would always pick out the hand-written letters addressed to him and neatly stack them in a box in order of envelope size. He would then make his way to Tony’s workshop with a spring in each step, punch in his access code to let himself in, plant himself on the carpet by the couch and work his way through the dozens of letters gleefully, tracing his fingers along the texture of the paper.

As for Tony, well, the workshop was his man cave and known to all other occupants of the Tower to be off limits, only opening his doors to by appoint-only consultations. Yet Tony made an exception for the super soldier; he was more than happy to welcome Steve in, so much so the certified genius gave the captain his own code that grants him access at any given time. Even when Tony was elbow deep in something (creating, designing, obsessing over an chemical equation), he'd never miss to spare a moment or two with Steve before going back to his work and leaving the man to his own devices in a corner of the shared space.

Before long, the workshop had become _their_ man cave. 

Tuesday afternoons were Steve and Tony's little secret.

That is, until one day, Tony decided to be cheeky and ruin the magic. He knew that Clint had a habit of crawling through the vents and no matter how often Tony warned him not to, the highly skilled assassin slash former level seven SHIELD agent slash bane of Tony's existence continued to challenge him. That fateful day, Tony's patience was wearing thin so he deliberately generated a force field when he sensed that Clint was passing through his workshop. The unsuspecting archer was electrocuted to a crisp, and Tony thought it was hi- _la_ -rious. 

Of course, Barton declared war against Tony.

His first order of business was to out their Tuesday afternoons activities and Clint did it the very next day during breakfast. Tony nearly spat out his coffee all over Thor's bowl of cereal. 

It was only then did he realise what a big mistake he had made. If Clint had been all over the vents for the past months, he would have known about their ritual this whole time and yet he had never said anything to anyone. Feeling like a dick and not wanting to risk the progress he's made with Steve (they were finally moving beyond just getting along to maybe something _more_ ), Tony did pull Clint aside to try and apologise. 

Unfortunately Clint was having too much fun watching Tony squirm.

Despite saying that he would let it go, from time to time the archer would bring the topic back up, sometimes even through comms during missions to redirect everyone's focus to Tony's increasingly frequent displays of favouritism towards Steve. The Captain was quick to shut down chatter through comms, but Tony was pleased to note that never once did Steve deny that they _were_ spending time together in private.

So, progress.

The teasing eventually generated enough attention that the rest of the team started poking their nose into the duo's weekly affair. For the most part, the rest of the Avengers were just happy for their co-leaders' improving relationship, but made it no secret that they were rooting for the super couple and were waiting for Steve and Tony to just admit that they were dating _._

 _Why can't two guys just chill out without anyone make a big deal out of it?_ Tony would commonly say to brush them off.

 _I gotta keep an eye on him or he'd work until the next day_ , was Steve's usual excuse. 

 _Take your heads out of your asses, guys_ , was on everyone else's mind.

Despite what the masses think, Tony knows exactly what he's doing. As a child, Captain America was Tony's hero. Never in a million years did he imagine actually getting the chance to know his hero, let alone saving the world next to the man.

Developing less than platonic feelings for the man outside the uniform came very much later.

After the hellicarrier incident, Tony actually thought they'd bury the hatchet when they kicked ass against the Chitauri, and ended it all with a solid handshake at Central Park. Yet the Steve Rogers who arrived at the Tower almost two years later was cold and standoff-ish. Tony could have easily been misled to think that Steve hadn't really gotten over their tiff in New York.

Or, Mr.1940s was genuinely a tightly wound, goody-two-shoes with the personality of a sock.

But Tony had read Maria Hill's mission reports on what had happen at the Triskelion. It was his tech after all. He also secured the files Natasha had dumped online so Tony was well versed with the fact that Bucky Barnes had come back from the dead as the Winter Soldier. He knew that Steve had dropped his shield and refused to fight the brainwashed assassin. Tony also knew it was more likely than not that Barnes had pulled Steve out of the river. 

Perhaps if Tony had continued to comb through _everything_ that the Black Widow released to the world, he would have learned a little bit more about the Asset but the genius got himself distracted with all things Steve Rogers. 

So Tony's first official assignment to Hill when she joined him was to convince the good Captain to leave DC and move back to Manhattan.

The first few weeks that Steve moved in, the pair barely interacted at all. It irked Tony because he was really trying to be nice yet Steve was the only one treating the billionaire like second choice Susan. Tony's biggest problem was that the Captain was infuriatingly polite and he didn't exactly do anything wrong. He was just a tad withdrawn, never staying longer than necessary during meal times and preferring isolation than the company of others.

Tony wasn't about to take it personal, because Clint made terrible jokes sound good and Thor was funny as hell without even trying.

Yet Steve barely broke a smile. 

And Tony remembers vividly how the man could really smile. Cue near-death experience in 2012. 

Eventually, Tony learned about the insomnia. JARVIS picked up Steve's frequent visits to the roof of the Tower in the wee hours of the morning and this prompted Tony to go up there one night, only to find the 220lbs soldier standing by the ledge of the roof, choking back tears and shivering to the bones. It took a few tries for Steve to admit that that he suffered from panic attacks from time to time since he woke up, but it has increased exponentially since DC.

Tony recognised the signs of PTSD without hardship.

As far as Tony was concerned, at that time Steve probably trusted Tony as far as he could throw him. Never mind that Steve had super human strength. So it was a huge gamble, mostly his pride was on line, when he offered Steve help to get through this. Access to the best therapists and doctors in the field, basically anything at all that would make life a little more bearable for the suffering super soldier. Tony had the capacity to make a lot of things happen.

But just as he predicted, Steve aggressively shut his offer down.

Not wanting to give up just yet, Tony finally just offered himself. That he was just as available if Steve wanted someone to sit with him, keep him company. To his utter surprise, Steve didn't balk to this. 

Then, one Tuesday afternoon, Steve just showed up at Tony's workshop unannounced with a box of letters in hand. With his head hung over his broad shoulders, he asked if he could come in, promising that he wouldn't be a bother. "I just don't want to be alone right now," Steve whispered that day. Tony had a million questions running through his mind that day but he held his tongue, and made a spot for Steve on the carpet. 

That was basically how their relationship took a turn for the better. 

Today though.

It was a quiet second day of the week, no missions, no charity meet and greet, and Tony was nervously looking forward to Steve.

They'd spend all of last Saturday eating the cookies that Steve had baked him (!!!!) and belting smash hits on the karaoke machine. At the end of it all, Tony fell asleep on Steve's chest. When he woke up two hours later, he found himself curled towards Steve's body, a hand wrapped across a broad chest and a leg tangled over Steve's thighs. Tony was basically using him like a giant, cuddly bolster.  

It took Tony two seconds to realise that the super soldier was stroking his wild hair gently as he reads a book with a free hand. When their eyes meet, Steve smiled softly and asked if he was hungry. The two ended up making dinner together afterwards, neither man finding the need to discuss the fact that they had been physically intimate for the first time. 

Here's the problem: the genius hadn't seen or heard from Steve since then.

Even though he knew Steve was away on Avengers business, his treacherous mind was playing tricks on him, whispering to his head that he'd come on to Steve too hard. And Steve was not like any other person that he's fallen for.

Due to his Captain America persona, Steve was widely projected as the poster boy for hyper-masculinity. After all, he was a soldier with the facial features of movie star and the body comparable to a Norse God (really; even Thor complemented Steve on his exceptional physique and strength). Most of all, Captain Rogers was a virtuous, admirable man, a leader, a national icon.

Not that Tony found none of these appetising, but what he discovered by taking his time to peel the layers that made up said image was far more remarkable. Admittedly, he lusted for the man shown in the image, but Tony fell in love with the soft, gentle person beneath all that.

Before the genius could dive deeper into his thoughts, he hears a code being punched into the door for access. Tony holds his breathe and looks up. Like clockwork, there he was. The man who stole his heart was at the door in cotton grey sweatpants snugged in all the right places, a white round-collared T-shirt that was two sizes too small for him and a shoebox full of letters pinned to his narrow waist. Steve's short hair wet at the tips but neatly finger combed.

 _No one does straight outta the shower looks better than you, Cap_ ; Tony sighs to himself, noticing a long time ago that Steve has a habit of leaving his hair damp to dry naturally. Tony couldn't resist returning the smile that was plastered across Steve's handsome face. 

"Hey," Tony says in a low voice, trying to sound casual and seductive at the same time. He ended up sounding like Joey Tribbiani high on Koolaid.

That warranted a force cough.

"Hey, Tony," Steve replies, his lips pursed and curling at the sides. 

"Come right in, Cap. You know the drill - mi casa es su casa, " Tony says, waving a noncommittal hand as he redirects his focus to the holograms projected before him and pretending that he was working on something. In actual fact he had been staring at skeletal blueprints of MARK 47 for 2.5 hours with little to no progress. 

"Alright," Steve says curiously before coming in and dropping his box on his usual spot on the carpet.

Steve starts to tidy up the area, arranging the books scattered across the couch and floor. He picks up empty takeout boxes, used chopsticks and empty energy drink cans and he throws them out. Once that was done, Steve starts rolling up hardcopies of blueprints of previous armours before sliding them into their respective cases. He casually walks past Tony to keep them away in the shelves just above Dum-E's charging docks.

Tony catches a whiff of perfume and recognises the scent.

_Wait._

Tony inhales deeper.

_Fuck me. He's wearing it. That's the one!_

The one Tony got him! The one Tony contemplated a million times before giving to Steve. Whilst the two of them were way past pretending they weren't attracted to each other, the topic of Steve's specific inclinations was still touch and go. Sometimes he could bring himself to talk about it, sometimes it gets overwhelming and he would recoil. Whenever it gets too much, Steve removes himself entirely to take a walk. They've only scratched the surface but Tony was a scientist. 

He experiments, he takes risks.

Crazy, could land him a good right hook to the jaw type of risks.

Because the perfume bottle that Tony got for Steve wasn't just _any_ bottle of perfume. Whilst the scent that Tony created was pretty much Chanel No.5 (chemistry was right up his alley anyway), the bottle itself was a vintage, original 1930's Devilbiss atomiser. It was an antique that costs a small fortune but that was never an area that the billionaire struggled with.

While Steve did thank him for it via video call, (eyes darting everywhere else, licking his lips and scratching his eyebrow - standard Steve), Tony didn't think Steve would actually _wear_  the scent. He dares himself to look and catches the super content expression on Steve's face, like he was so happy to be there. He was even humming a pleasant tune while he built a nest of pillows.

Once satisfied, he sits and starts to go through his letters without inviting Tony over, probably assuming that Tony was busy that day from the lack of interest the inventor was showing him. Steve was thoughtful that way, he would never impose.

The softness of Steve’s gaze when he reads the letters kids would write him was Tony’s favorite part of their routine and it was highly distracting.

The genius could watch Steve all day long if life would permit it. Usually it wouldn't take long for Tony to abandon his tools to lay on the couch while Steve rests against it on the carpet. Tony absolutely loves the way Steve's ocean blue eyes would sparkle in the sun when he tilts his head to meet Tony’s chocolate eyes. Steve would practically gush whenever he received drawings and letters from kids. He loved showing them off to Tony and would go “Are you _kidding_ me? Come one. This is amazing!” at almost every drawing that Tony would merely shrug his shoulders to. 

Steve was such a dork that it became painfully adorable.

“Awww geez, listen to this,” Steve suddenly says, jerking Tony out of his thoughts. "Sorry," he adds quickly, thinking he was disrupting Tony's concentration.

The corner of the genius' mouth automatically quirks into a smile. He nudges his chin up in question, urging Steve to carry on.

“ _Dear Captain Rogerz_ ,” Steve starts. “ _My name is Jacob. I’m four years old_. Gosh he spelled my name with a Z! That makes me so much cooler, Jake, thank you,” Steve says, a palm across his ridiculously sculptured chest. “ _I love Disney movies. Especially Frozen. What is your favorite Disney cartoon? P/S I love you Captain America. Your my favorite Avenger. I love The Hulk too because hes strong. Your stronger though. Love, Jacob Christopher Renley_.”

He looks at Tony with an irresistable pout, drawing the brunette to gravitate in Steve's direction. 

A sea of letters and stationery surrounded the captain, and Tony was careful not to step on any of the envelops and letters that came in various colors and sizes. He tip-toes and drops himself heavily on the couch. Steve passes him the letter in his hand. 

“So what is it, Cap?” Tony says, laying on his back and resting his head against his arm. "What's your favorite Disney movie?"

“Gee I don’t know. I haven’t watched that many,” Steve lies, already starting to think what he'd write back to Jacob.

“Oh come on, you've made me watch a gazillion cartoons. There's gotta be one that sticks out," Tony coerces. "Come on,  _Rogerz_ , make those cool points count,” Tony teases.

“Well Frozen _was_ good,” Steve says, the tip of his mouth dropping as he considers.

Tony gently hits him over the head with a soft pillow cushion. “You're gonna sound like some uninitiated douche who's just telling the kid what he wants to hear. Tell the six year old what your favorite Disney cartoon is,” Tony says, stressing each word like a warning. It only made the blond chuckle happily.

“He's four," Steve corrects, before turning his body to face him. "What’s yours?”

This made Tony prop himself up on his elbows, hands on chest. “Jacob isn’t asking _Iron Man_ what his favourite Disney cartoon is. He's asking Captain America.”

“Yeah well right now Steve Rogers is asking Tony Stark. Tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine."

"What are you, 10?"

"97. You said it yourself, you've watched them all with me. You gotta have a favourite," Steve says, nudging on the smaller man playfully.

Tony resigns into the sofa and closes his eyes. He tries his best to hide that growing smile. Because they're doing it again. 

The flirting. 

"You go first. Lead by example, Boss."

Steve rolls his eyes fondly. He hesitates for a moment before answering. "Okay mine's Mulan. What's yours?"

Tony's eyes fly open and he drops his head to the side in disbelief. "Liar."

"Excuse me?"

You _hate_ Mulan."

"No I don't."

"Oh yes you do," Tony insists, raising an eyebrow.

"You're actually arguing with me on this," Steve says in disbelief. There was no heat in his words, because yup they were definitely flirting.

"YES. How could it be your favourite when you never finished? You stomped ..." The gears in his head start to spin. "...out of the .. room..." And then everything clicked. "Ah."

"Ah," Steve parrots, a forgiving smirk on his lips. "I did eventually finish it. By myself, after the uh whole thing. I couldn't get past the song part without .. reacting." Steve thinks for a bit before he looks straight into Tony's dark eyes. "Does it make sense now?"

"After my brain rebooted? Absolutely." Tony slaps his forehead and drags the heel of his palm across his face, feeling stupid. "Sorry. That was .. a brain fart. Trust me sometimes I'm smart. Occasionally I'm sensitive. I'm working on those two traits to coexist in one sitting."

"Salright. No harm done. But you're visibly tired, Tony. You've been binge-working again while I was gone?"

Tony stretches his mouth, guilty. "The fact that this ratty old couch actually feels decent is clear evidence how sore my back is." Tony stretches his arms and legs as far as they would go before releasing the tension altogether.

Taking that as his cue, Steve twists his body to dig into the box he carried with him and came back with-

"Kit-Kat?" Tony says, genuinely surprised. He plucks it out of Steve's hand to examine it. "Green tea. Huh. Where'd you get this?"

"I was in Japan, remember? Nat told me we don't have these flavours over here so I, uh I got you a whole bunch. There's strawberry, wasabi, red bean.." Steve says as he emerges with more bars of chocolate in his hand, holding them up like a fan over his face with only his eyes visible.

"Why'd you -" Tony starts to laugh, completely smitten by Steve's thoughtfulness. "Did you buy the whole store, Steve?"

"Nah just, just a few. Boxes. I got you a few boxes of each flavour. Didn't know which one you'd take, but Nat said everyone eats Kit Kat. And Clint said he'd eat the ones that you wouldn't so none of these would go to waste," Steve says, rubbing the back of his neck like he'd did something wrong. "You.... wanna try one?" he asks, finally managing to summon some courage to raise his blue eyes to meet Tony's.

Tony points at the green tea one, so Steve starts to unwrap the bar.

If he had a tail, it would be wagging feverishly.

"Thanks, Cap. I mean, if this is your way of telling me I need a break every now and then, consider the message being delivered demonstrably loud and clear."

Steve chuckles, a small rumble in his tone. He breaks the KitKat bar of four in half, splitting it to share. The second he hands Tony his share, he bites across his own bars **horizontally**. 

All hell broke lose.

Tony's jaw drops and he stares at Steve in disbelief. _Oh my god_ , Tony thinks.  _I'm in love with a serial killer._

Comically, Steve was utterly oblivious to Tony's reaction. He was busy writing back to his young fan. He inhales the rest of the assaulted chocolate bar before ducking his head back up to finally notice  that Tony was staring at him with crazy eyes. Like a true scientist, Tony breaks the gaze and randomly picks up two new bars and hands one of it to Steve. 

"You try this one and let me know if it's going to Barton," Tony says, handing Steve the pudding-flavoured one while he glances at the one in his hand. He grimaces at red bean, remembering how much he disliked the taste. But this is for science. 

Again, Steve bites right into the bar of four like a savage. 

Tony loses it. "You're kidding me!" he exclaims, startling the super soldier.

"What?"

"You're - didn't Romanoff tell you how to eat these?"

"Tell me?" Steve asks, blinking confused. "Is there a certain way to-?"

"YES," Tony insists. "Oh my god. You're adorable. Steve, you break the bars and eat them one at a time!" 

"Oh."

Steve looks at his half eaten chocolate bar and back to Tony. He hesitates before he does what he's told - he breaks one bar and bites into it. Carefully, with his eyes locked on Tony's, "Have I restored order in the universe yet?" Steve asks..

"I can't believe it," Tony mutters to himself with a big grin on his face. He breaks a bar off his own KitKat and bites into it. "I'm in love with a serial killer, for-“

 _Fuck_.

The taste of red bean in his mouth was not helping the nausea creeping up Tony's throat. 

_Fuckity fuckwits._

_Twice in one sitting._

_Fuck._

"Sorry," Tony says instinctively. 

Steve chews his lips like he was trying very hard not to goof off. "What are you sorry for?"

"Uh." Tony force coughs. "Clint can have red bean. I need to throw up, be right back."

Tony bolts to the sink. He doesn't vomit, but he might as well since he can't seem to do anything right today. When he comes back with a glass of water in hand, he notices that Steve has started writing again. He has a sad frown on his face though, and Tony knew he couldn't pretend that he didn't say what he'd say. This was not how he had envisioned his confession to be like, but since the cat's out of the bag, he might as well ride the waves. 

"Beauty and The Beast." Steve looks up to Tony who was rocking on his heels now, looking unsure. "I like Beauty and The Beast. Disney." He blue eyed man says nothing. "You know the soundtrack? The Celine Dion one? Love it. It reminds me of you. Of us. Of how we started off and where we are today."

The nervous man squats and rests one knee on the carpet so they were face to face with each other. "It reminds me how much this -" Tony waves a finger back and forth between them "- scares me. And how I don't want to mess this up. I really, really hope I haven't?"

For a moment Steve appears unconvinced but then he warms up as his smile returns. "No, Tony, you haven't. Serial killer? I've been called worse."

Just like that, the tension's gone. They ease into a comfortable laugh but Tony was determined to make his intentions clear. He takes one large breathe in and goes for it.

"Go out with me."

Steve's smile slowly fades into a shy purse of lips. 

"Go out with me, Steve. Let me take you out. We can grab a cheeseburger and shakes if you want. Or I can wine and dine you like a gentleman that I'm known to be from time to time. Whatever you're comfortable with."

"Tony, I.."

"Look we don't have to go out or tell anyone. I respect that you need time. I just - I really, _really_ like you Steve. I dont have everything figured out but I have to get this out of my chest. If you're uncomfortable I'll never bring this up again."

"No, no no no, you're not the problem, Tony. I'm .. sorry, I'm the one not making any sense. I'm just a little floored right now, that's all."

"Is that... a positive or a negative? Use your words, Cap. I'm terribly male about these things, I'm oblivious."

"Nobody's ever ... asked me out, Tony."

"Are you serious?"

Steve nods, flushing a soft shade of red. His eyes go astray. "I was 95lbs soaking wet back then. Nobody would look twice at me, unless they wanted me to pass a note to Bucky. The ladies thought I was a freak, the men would just beat me up. Never really stood a chance. After the serum, women just expected me to ask them out. After I woke up, people expected a lot more out of me. And well.. you know the rest."

Steve hesitates before he lifts his face. "You really wanna go out with me? You don't think I'm a .. freak?"

"Why would I? Jesus, Steve."

"The way I am. The way I ..  _really_ am. That I'm into perfumes and baking and all types of things that ...... women do. I'm not exactly what you expected when you first met me. I'm not (Steve curls his fingers in inverted commas, something he learned from Clint obviously) -"

Tony touches his hand to stop him from putting himself down. "- _conventional_? Steve, have you even met me? And plus, don't flatter yourself. I didn't want you the first time I met you."

"Hey, you said you thought I was pretty," Steve says, feigning annoyance but Tony definitely managed to wrest a smile out of him.

"Yeah but not before I found out that you're actually a pain in the ass sass queen beneath the pretty face! But now, after getting to know you, the real you? You. Are. Beautiful. Every inch of you. Even if you break every law there is known to mankind for chomping on KitKat without breaking the bars."

Steve breaks into another round of laughter, this time looking guilty. He then admits that it started off as a prank; Clint _had_ explained to him how biting horizontally into a whole bar of KitKat without breaking them makes one a sociopath. The archer further suggested trying it in front of Tony, knowing how the genius would claw his eyes out in horror.

Tony was not amused.

"Your man-cave access is officially revoked until further notice, Rogers."

"My what? Aw come on Tony," Steve says, desperately trying to keep Tony from getting up to leave.

"Your man-WHATEVER. I can't believe you'd do that to me on purpose!" Tony says dramatically as he tries to evade Steve's grabby hands. When the super soldier gets a good grip of his elbow, he gets tugged forward and nearly stumbles. Steve catches him on time and stabilises him.

They look at each other and all playfulness dissipate.

This time, it was Steve who moves first. He daringly slides his hand up Tony's chest, up his collarbone to pull him by his neck. He presses his lips on Tony's, crossing the line forever.

Soon their mouths slot perfectly in each other, just a hint of teeth and tongue in the midst of the languid movements of their lips. Tony was experienced in the art of lip locking with both genders but he wasn't surprised at all by the way Steve moves; he was a mix of dominance and sensuality, unafraid and curious, eager but playful. It Tony was being really honest, Steve kissed like a very sexy woman who was very aware that she was in control.

When Steve pulls back, he examines his masterpiece - Tony was completely debauched. The blonde breaks into a triumphant grin. He grabs a fistful of Tony's shirt, pulls him slightly to lure him back in, only to press a hand on the brunette's chest, chasing after him. 

He chews his lower lips, thinking, teasing. He runs a finger over Tony's lips, dragging down his lower lip before gently going in again, this time with more tongue.

"You've been holding back on me, Steve," Tony says when they break for air, still drunk on the taste of his crush.  Tony peppers Steve's jaw line with kisses, inhaling his sweet scent. "God you're intoxicating."

"It's a Chanel knockoff."

This cracks Tony up, ruining the euphoria. He buries his face in Steve's neck laughing, giving up altogether. 

Steve then forces himself to ask. "Was that ... too forward? I've never really .. I've never actually uh. I mean I've obviously kissed someone before. Once. Right before -" A frown line appears on his forehead and Tony could tell Steve was getting flashes in his head again.

He presses his lips firmly against Steve's to keep him locked in the present. It works, because Steve was high again when Tony draws back. 

"Wasn't forward at all. I like it. You can do that anytime you want," Tony says in a low, husky voice.

Steve's face splits into a goofy smile. 

The rest of the afternoon was pleasantly subtle. They managed to pull themselves together with Tony helping Steve go through the rest of the fan-mail. They would kiss every now and then between letters, but never went further than that. It wasn't a sprint to the finish line for either of them. They were just at the start of a very long walk, and whilst they would stop and enjoy the roses every now and then, the pace was comfortable for the moment. 

As Tony steals a glance, he smiles contently. _I'm in love with a serial killer._ He stifles a laugh at the thought, trying not to draw attention to himself. 

 

~~_Yeah, I'm in love_ ~~

~~_With you_ ~~

~~_STEVE ROGERS_ ~~

~~_TONY R_ ~~

 

_I'm in love with you Steve._

_One day I'll say it right. If I'm lucky, you'll say it back and mean it just as much. ~~Maybe if I'm really lucky, we'll tell the kids~~_

_I love you, Steve._

_Love me back?_

_-Tony_

 

Without realising what he was doing, Tony had penned his thoughts down at the back of a 12 year old's letter. Safe to say, that poor fan never got a response from Captain America.

Though he did get a letter from Tony Stark, with tickets to the next Stark Expo.

It was hand-delivered to Queens the very next day.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if you liked this one! Kudos and comments are always appreciated (read: lived for!) 
> 
>  


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